The year 2026 marks the definitive end of the lignite era, as previously announced in 2019. In this transitional juncture, the performance returns to the roots of the phenomenon: from the Marshall Plan and the dawn of lignite development in the 1940s to the economic boom, the monoculture of the Public Power Corporation (DEI), the thousands of jobs, and the radical transformation of the landscape. At the same time, it highlights the unseen aspects of this history: the health impact, occupational accidents, environmental struggles, and the current uncertainty of phase-out, which leads the region into a new, unsure future. Historical archives, journalistic sources, and personal testimonies of residents, workers, and institutional figures are transformed into raw theatrical material. On stage, professional actors and members of the local community coexist to bridge the documented with the poetic and the personal with the collective.
“The Promised Land” is the new summer 2026 production of the Municipal Regional Theatre of Kozani, co-produced with the Athens Epidaurus Festival. It is a performance deeply connected to the identity and wider society of Western Macedonia, as well as to the country’s lesser-known energy history.
*The text is the result of interviews, research, and composition, and belongs to all those who contributed to its formation.
Direction – Dramaturgy: Georgia Mavragani, Set – Costume Design: Evi Mimikou, Venetia Nasi, Lighting Design: Emorfili Tsimplidou, Music: Charis Neilas, Movement Direction: Marianna Kavallieratou, Cinematographer: Stathis Galazoulas, First Assistant Director: Maria Iliadi, Second Assistant Director: Nikoleta Siomou, Video – Photography: Panagiotis Manousaridis, Production Organisation: Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kozani / Dimitra Sotiropoulou, Tour Organisation: Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kozani / Stelios Sotiropoulos, Set Construction: Nikos Lavantsiotis, Takis Sindoukas, Lighting Operator: Tasos Didaskalou, Sound Operator: Lefteris Ferlachidis, Production: Municipal and Regional Theatre of Kozani, Co-production: Athens Epidaurus Festival,
Cast: Symeon Kostakoglou, Ioanna Siskou, Anatoli Tsakalidou, Grigoris Poimenidis, Dimitris Galanakis
